Ribeirão Preto is the eighth largest municipality in the state at 650.9 km2, with an estimated population of 674,534 in 2018 and a metropolitan area of 1,178,910.[2] It is situated 313 km (194 mi) from the city of São Paulo and 706 km (439 mi) from Brasília, the federal capital. Its mean altitude is 526.8 meters (1,728 feet) high. The city's average temperature throughout the year is 23 °C (73F) and the predominant original vegetation is the Atlantic forest.

The city was originated around 1856 as an agricultural region. Coffee was a primary source of income until 1929, when it lost value compared with the industrial sector. In the second half of the 20th century, investment in areas such as health, biotechnology, bioenergy and information technology led to the city being declared a Technological Center in 2010. These activities have caused the city to have the 30th biggest gross national (GNP) in Brazil.

The city is also an important cultural center. The Prefeito Luiz Roberto Jábali Park, the Maurilio Biagi Park, Carlos Raya Park, Santa Tereza Reserve and the Zoo are important preservation areas. Pinguim Beer house, Dom Pedro Theatre and projects such as Ribeirão Preto's Cinema Center are relevant sightseeing points, along with events such as the Agrishow Agricultural Fair, Tanabata Festival, Joao Rock Music Festival and the National Outdoor Book Fair.

Population

Adding to the Native Amerindians already living in the area when immigrant populations began to occupy and settle the land, the population of Ribeirão Preto includes, amongst other groups, descendants of Africans, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese immigrants who were attracted to the region because of the coffee agriculture, right after the abolition of slavery in 1888, when immigrants were granted lands, after being indentured workers. Descendants of enslaved African people constitute a big and important element of the population. Italians arrived in huge numbers, followed by Germans, Spaniards, Eastern Europeans, and Portuguese.

During the 1990s, Northeastern migrants came to the region attracted by the economic development of São Paulo state cities, which was widely broadcast in TV documentaries. With the super population of the city by individuals who often had no technical skills and were often illiterate, poverty and crime grew considerably. Many migrants boosted the economy by working in sugar cane plantations and orange groves though. However, those who perform seasonal duties, often have no safe net, when the work is over. IBGE research indicate that Ribeirão Preto has a population of 666,323 inhabitants.[2] The urban agglomeration incorporates 34 municipalities, with a population about 1.4 million inhabitants.

History

The city was founded June 19, 1856 by farmers coming from the southeast area of São Paulo. The region also received many miners that had left depleted mines. The city was built by a stream called Black Creek, and was named after it (Ribeirão Preto means black creek in Portuguese, sometimes translated as "Black Stream", which is also the name of a hotel in the city). The farmers had chosen well was revealed to be a good one; the fertile soil of the Ribeirão Preto region allowed the highest crop productivity in Brazil.

The rapid development of coffee cultivation brought wealth and progress to the city, which by the 1880s had become the largest coffee producer in the world. Coffee, also called "green gold," caused a "gold rush" in the region, which attracted workers and adventurous people from manyl parts of the world. This movement was helped by the new Mogiana Railway, linking Ribeirão Preto to São Paulo and to the port city of Santos, and by the abolition of slavery in Brazil, in 1888. The end of slavery created a strong market for labor, and "coffee barons", as coffee farmers were called, also stimulated European immigration – mostly from Italy but also from Portugal, Spain and Germany – to Ribeirão Preto. Later, after the stock market crash of 1929, some of these immigrants bought farms from their impoverished former employers.

Culture

Teatro Pedro II

At the beginning of the 20th century and during its first three decades, Ribeirão Preto was a rich city, boasting several mansions, European-style cafés, cabarets and even two opera houses. One of the opera houses – the Carlos Gomes Theatre (in honour of Brazilian opera composer Carlos Gomes) – was demolished in 1949 but the other – the "Pedro II Theatre" (named in honor of Emperor Dom Pedro II), dating from the 1920s – resisted time and was restored and modernized during the 1990s. Its ceiling, completely destroyed in a fire of 1980, was rebuilt and gained a new design projected by Japanese-Brazilian artist Tomie Ohtake. The Pedro II Theatre is now the third largest opera house in Brazil and is the home of the Ribeirão Preto symphony orchestra, one of the oldest and most important in Brazil.

An important fact for the city life happened in 1911 with the opening of its first factory, the Antarctica Brewery Company, nowadays part of the AmBev group. It was Antarctica which built the Pedro II Theatre. The Antarctica factory led to the opening of several beer houses in the city and one of them named Pinguim (penguin in Portuguese), became particularly famous and made Ribeirão Preto nationally renowned for the quality of its draft beer (chope or chopp in Brazilian Portuguese). Many people say that Pinguim has the best draft beer in Brazil and it became so important that it is now a symbol of the city; people say that coming to Ribeirão Preto and not visiting Pinguim is like going to Rome and not seeing the Pope. There are four Pinguim beer houses in Ribeirão Preto: two of them, called Pinguim 1 and 2 respectively, are at the November XV square (the central square of Ribeirão Preto) right beside the Pedro II Theatre. The other two are at the shopping centers Santa Úrsula and Ribeirão Shopping respectively. The Penguin beer house was named after the Antarctica company's logo (see at [1]).Many small "alambiques" exist in the region, each producing its own singular "Pinga," better known as Cachaça. These "Pingas" are often aged and are available in many flavours, while still maintaining their flair.

Pinguim is not the only good beer house in Ribeirão Preto. Ribeirão Preto is a hot climate city, which makes people go out in the evening to chat and enjoy cold draft beers in bars. Therefore, the city is teeming with bars, from the simple "botequins" or "botecos" that one can find in almost every corner, to the most sophisticated pub style bars, which rival their counterparts in São Paulo and Rio.

Ribeirão Preto also has one of the first micro-breweries in Brazil, Cervejaria Colorado, founded in 1997. It produces three different types of beers, two ales and one lager. Cervejaria Colorado is located at Rua Minas and has a bar at Avenida Independencia where it offers 70 different labels of beer from all over the world.

Ribeirão Preto is considered one of the major centers of business tourism in the country, being chosen by the Ministry of Tourism as an inducer of regional tourism development, between 4 cities of São Paulo and 64 other locations throughout Brazil. Currently the city has 52 hotels in full operation, with 8600 beds (or jobs), beyond 30 motels with 2000 beds, beds totaling 10,600 rooms in the network of the city.

Parks and forests

Ribeirão Preto has many parks, gardens and a zoo[7] e.g. Fábio Barreto municipal forest, municipal park called "Curupira", officially named Luís Roberto Jábali Park, the Botanical Garden Park, named as Luís Carlos Raya Park, both located in the south zone, Tom Jobim Park, located in the northwest region and the Maurílio Biagi Park, located in the central region.

Theatres and museums

Ribeirão Preto has several museums and theaters, highlighting the Theatro Pedro II, which is an opera house, located in the central region, more specifically in the "Quarterão Paulista"(Paulista Block), considered the third largest category in Brazil, with capacity for 1580 spectators and a total area of 6500 m2, inaugurated on October 8, 1930. Another highlight is the theater in the Municipal Theatre, inaugurated in 1969 with modern lines, which has capacity for 515 people. Being a large and wooded place, is also used for cultural events. There is also the Arena Theatre, which is next to the Municipal Theater, among others. Some museums stand out in the city, as the "Coffee Museum Francis Schmidt," which was built in the early 1950s, known for saving the most important collection of pieces of São Paulo on the History of Coffee Its collection consists of large sculptures, bullock carts, trolleys, coffee machines benefit, plus photos of the golden age of coffee in the region of Ribeirão Preto. Another museum is extremely relevant APRM – Art Museum of Ribeirão Preto-Manuel Pedro Gismondi, the city has other museums such as the Museum of General Order and the Museum of Image and Sound.

Theatres in the city:

Auxiliadora Theatre;

Bassano Vaccarini Theatre;

Arena Theatre;

SESC Theatre;

Minaz Theatre;

Municipal Theatre;

Pedro II Theatre/Opera House;

Santa Rosa Theatre;

Sesi Theatre.

Cinema

Ribeirão Preto is a major center of cinema in Brazil, with the Kaiser Film Studios, held by the São Paulo Film Commission, with space of more than 13 thousand square meters of constructed area and houses an entire infrastructure for audiovisual production. Situated in the historic city center, (the Company's former headquarters Brewery Paulista), this historical and cultural heritage is listed by the Defense Council of Historical, Artistic, Archaeological and Tourism of the State of São Paulo (Condephaat), Council of Heritage Preservation Cultural de Ribeirão Preto (Conppac) and at present is in the process of overturning the Iphan – "Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage.

In addition, the city still has the largest film society in the country, Cineclube Cauim (900 seats), and dozens of mainstream cinema rooms, such as UCI, Cinemark and Cinepolis.

Carnival

Ribeirão Preto is the birthplace of one of the oldest samba schools in Brazil: in 1927 founded the "Bambas" However, as a string carnival, becoming samba schools later. Besides this pioneering school are the Ambassadors of Elysian Fields, Tradition of Ipiranga, Golden Falcon, 12 Corinthian Shirt Emperors and Samba.

In 2010, Ribeirão Preto was chosen as the theme for Águias de Ouro Samba School's parade in São Paulo Sambodrome, showing its history related to coffee, sugar cane and agribusiness.

There are also a few street carnival groups, such as "Os Alegrões" (Jardim Irajá neighborhood) and "O Berro" (in the city center)., amongst others.

Sports

Lately Ribeirão Preto's highest sports acclaim comes in basketball. The team plays under the name COC-Ribeirão Preto (Colegio Oswaldo Cruz) and finished 1st in the National Championship first division in 2003. Other finishes of note include championships in the Paulista league (state of São Paulo) in '02,'03,'04,'05 and '06 when was champion. COC-Ribeirão Preto plays its home games in the Gym "Cava do Bosque", which is located on the land associated with the Municipal Park of Sports. From 2010 to 2015 the city also hosted a Stock Car Brasil race at the ill-fated Ribeirão Preto Street Circuit. The circuit was modified only one year after use. It is available in the Automobilista video game with the 2010 and 2012 layouts.

The city also possesses two soccer stadiums, the Estádio Palma Travassos (of Comercial FC) and Santa Cruz (of Botafogo FC). Neither Comercial nor Botafogo are currently in Brazil's top three soccer divisions. On the national and international scene, Botafogo is often confused with the Rio de Janeiro club with the same name to the extent that the Rio club is often credited with being the infamous club against which Pelé scored a record 8 goals in one game. One example is in Franklin Foer's book "How Soccer Explains the World". But it was in the Paulista championships on November 21, 1964 in the coastal city of Santos and against the Ribeirão Preto team that Pelé achieved the incredible feat and his Santos team won by an 11 × 0 score. The 8 goals were payback for the defeat Santos suffered on September 6, 1964 when they visited Ribeirão Preto during the first round of the tournament and lost 2 x 0. Not only had a "small" team beaten one of the "big" teams, but had done so while insulting the "King". A better claim to fame for Botafogo (often referred to as Botafogo-SP) is that Brazilian soccer captains (and brothers) Sócrates and Raí started their careers with Botafogo.

National Team Training Centres (CTSs) World Cup 2014

Ribeirão Preto is among the municipalities that meet the basic requirements, such as distance to airports, hotels range for officers, among others. Therefore, it was selected as one of the cities eligible to receive Training Centers of the World Cup 2014. The Organizing Committee announced the list of cities with potential to host these training centers of Selections (CTS) during the World Cup 2014.

Economy

The Santa Elisa sugarcane processing plant, one of the largest and oldest in Brazil, is located near Ribeirão Preto.

Typical sugarcane harvest transport near Ribeirão Preto

After the New York Stock Exchange crash of 1929 the economy of Ribeirão Preto, based on a single export crop, collapsed, and the city had to adapt to a new situation. Since the city is relatively far from other major Brazilian urban centers, it found a new economic vocation in the services and commercial sector, which was developed to attend the local and regional demands.[citation needed]

The second economic boom in the history of Ribeirão Preto occurred after the oil crisis (1973 and 1979) of the 1970s. The increase in the oil price obliged Brazil to look for alternative means of fueling and the solution found was the alcohol fuel program, or Pro-Álcool as it is called. Pró-Álcool led to the development of a technology which allows the use of ethanol (sugarcane alcohol) either as automotive fuel or as a gasoline additive. The latter improves performance and substitutes lead thus decreasing polluting emissions. Due to the Pró-Álcool program, farmers from the region of Ribeirão Preto were encouraged by government subsidies to grow sugarcane. The high productivity of the land around Ribeirão Preto rapidly placed the region as the largest alcohol and sugar producer of the world, being responsible for 30 percent of Brazil's sugarcane alcohol fuel.[citation needed]

Business District of Ribeirão Preto.

The mall "Ribeirão Shopping".

Contrary to what happened during the city's first economic boom, this time Ribeirão Preto farmers and entrepreneurs did not concentrate themselves exclusively on a single crop and diversified their investments making the city one of the most important agribusiness centers of Brazil. Besides sugar and alcohol, Ribeirão Preto's major products are orange juice, cotton, rice, meat, dairy products, textiles, machinery, steel, furniture, building materials, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and, of course, beer. The city hosts "Agrishow" on an annual basis, this show being one of the most important agricultural trade shows in Brazil.[citation needed]

The sugarcane boom brought a new age of prosperity for the city, which was called the "Brazilian California" during the 1980s and early 1990s. On the one hand, this has increased the city's wealth and turned it into a sophisticated center of services for Brazil and South America but, on the other hand, the image of a new "Eldorado" attracted many migrants from impoverished areas of Brazil leading to a rapid population growth and the appearance of slums (favelas as they are called in Brazil) including all the negative aspects associated with them like drug trafficking and high violence and crime rates, an unfortunate fact that Ribeirão Preto shares with all other major Brazilian cities.[8]

Government

The municipal administration is given by the executive power and by the legislative power. The first to govern the municipality was João Gonçalves dos Santos, who was in the position of intendant for some months of 1874. Currently the municipal mayor is Duarte Nogueira, from the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB).

Urban infrastructure

Health

In 2009 the municipality counted with 319 health establishments such as hospitals, emergencies rooms, clinics and dental care, being 64 of these publics and 255 private. With them the city has 2 177 beds available for hospitalization, which 847 are in the public's establishments and 1 320 in the private's. In 2011 95.7% of the children of under-1 year had their immunization updated. In 2010 was registered 8 141 new born, and the infant mortality rate as 9,7/ every 1 000 born child and 99.8% of all the new born had assisted birth. In the same year 12.5% of all pregnant women were under-20 years. 32 963 children were weighed by the Family's Health Program, and 0.8% of them were undernourished.

The Ribeirão Preto's Health division is linked to the City hall and responsible for the maintenance and operation of the Sistema Unico de Saude (SUS- Unified Health System), and for the policies, programs and projects that aimed the city's health. For the first care the city counts with 33 Units UBDS and UBS. Among the support and basic attention services there’re the Homeopathy and Herbal Medicine Program, Sanitary Surveillance (VISA), the Programme for Health Care of the Person with Disabilities (PASDEF), the Home Care Service (DSS), the Health Program of the Deaf and Fissured (Prodaf) and the Program Community Integration (PIC). The Service Mobile Emergency (EMS) in Ribeirão Preto was one of the first to be instituted in Brazil, counting today with 11 ambulances basic (USBs) and a mobile ICU.

Ministry of Health points Ribeirão Preto as the best city in the state and the third better in the country, among the 29 Brazilian's municipality with the highest income and infrastructure in access and quality of the health services. The city was rated 6,69, above the Brazilian average, of 5,47, according to the SUS’ Index of Performance (Idsus). The first two ranked are Vitória (ES) and Curitiba (PR) with the notes 7,08 ad 6,96, respectively.

Education

The medium Basic Education Performance Index (IDEB) among the city's public schools was, in 2009, 4.0 (in a scale from 1 to 10), considering that the note from the 5th years was 4.4 and the 9th years was 3.7; the note of the municipals and publics schools in the hole country was also 4,0. Among the private institutions the municipal index raises to 6.1 (6.4 for the 5th years students and 5.9 for the 9th years). The education Human Development Index (HDI) was 0.918 (classified as very elevated), while Brazilian's was 0,849.

The municipality counted, in 2009, with approximated 117 373 enrollments in the schools. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geographic and Statics, in the same year, from the all the 168 elementary schools, 60 belonged to the state, 26 to the municipality and 82 were private. Among all the 68 high schools, 32 belonged to the state, 3 to the municipality and 33 were private. In 2000, 5.5% of the children from 7 to 14 were not at school. The graduation average among teen of 15 to 17 years was, in the same year, 67.7%. The index of alphabetization of the population above 15 years, in 2010, was of 98.9%. In 2006, for each 100 girls there were 105 boys in the elementary school.

The city's Education Office has as their objective to coordinate and advise the management and pedagogical the city's education system. Are examples of the programs coordinated by the Office the Young and Adults Education (EJA) that is a non-cost education for the adults that had not concluded elementary schooling and the Special Education Networking, where students who have physical disabilities are conducted by specialist teachers.

During the economic stagnation from the 1940s to the 1950s the city discovered and established its vocation as an educational and university center. In 1942 the state government expropriated the Monte Alegre Farm, an important coffee farm from the Schmidt family of German immigrants, and transformed it into an agricultural practical school. Several new buildings and houses for the professors were constructed on a land which held before tens of thousands of coffee plants. The new school was very well planned and urbanized and many trees were planted to provide shadow and give it a pleasant atmosphere. But the agricultural school never achieved a significant development and it was closed in 1951. A longstanding dream of the population of Ribeirão Preto was to have a university and in 1952 the old farm was donated to the University of São Paulo for the creation of a medical school, which was the first school of its campus at Ribeirão Preto.

Fortunately, many original buildings of the agricultural school and even some of the Monte Alegre Farm were preserved and only adapted to hold the new university, which makes its campus one of the most beautiful university campuses in Brazil. After the creation of the medical school the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto (USP-RP) has been growing steadily and it is presently constituted by eight schools: School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (FMRP), School of Law of Ribeirão Preto (FDRP), School of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters (FFCLRP), School of Dentistry (FORP), School of Economics, Administration and Accounting (FEARP), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCFRP), School of Nursing (EERP) and School of Music (DMRP-ECA).

One interesting fact is that in Ribeirão Preto there is one Local Cometee of AIESEC. Present in over 110 countries and territories and with over 60,000 members, AIESEC is the world's largest student-run organisation. Focused on providing a platform for youth leadership development, AIESEC offers young people the opportunity to be global citizens, to change the world, and to get experience and skills that matter today. Their office is in Rua das Paiseiras, casa 9, USP, Monte Alegre.

Science and technology

Despite Ribeirão Preto, the entire region comprehends one of the principal University and Research Centers of the State, highlighting the health, engineering and high technology in São Carlos, agronomics, vet and zoo in Jaboticabal, zoo and food engineering at Pirassununga, among others. Therefore, the region consolidates itself as an important technological and educational polo. In May 2012 was opened the School of Technological Training (FORTEC) "Jandyra Camargo Moquenco" downtown, beginning its activities with four classes and attending around 900 students, divided in three shifts.

Ribeirão Preto's Technology Park has as its objective to support the scientific and technological development of the area, attracting companies that invest in research and development of products, focused in the areas of health and biotechnology, that prioritize sustainable development. The focus is to the Education and Research institutions, that comprehends the development of human resources, the availability of technological services and competence, and the technological demands from the companies in the area of Ribeirão Preto and from Brazil itself altogether with the international and national's technological trends in the Health and Biotechnology industry. Ribeirão Preto's Technology Park counts with equipment that induces research and development, as the Medical and Hospital Equipment Laboratory, a Business Center and a Business Incubator. The city also is an educational center in IT. In 2005 the city counted already with more than 300 companies in the activity and in 2010 the area had an increase of 23% in the income of the companies in the industry of Information and Communication Technology. Other areas that the city also stands out in the technological sector are the Health, the Biotechnology and the Bioenergy, considered one of the biggest sugar and ethanol's producers worldwide.

Transportation

Public transportation

Ribeirão Preto's public transportation system is operated by three companies and about 300 buses that attend 113[11] lines and routes.

There are 30 routes[12] operated by small-sized buses. These routes connect distant districts to the main stations and are free of charge.

An electronic card is required to use public transportation. The card works as a pre-paid fare system, and the fares are debited directly from the electronic card. These electronic cards are issued by the transportation department, which is called Transerp.[13]

Main highways

Ribeirão Preto Beltway

Ribeirão Preto has a good road network that connects the cities of São Paulo state and to the capital, having access to highways statewide and even national importance through side roads and two-lane paved, as the National Highway Cândido Portinari and Anhanguera highway. Anhanguera is one of the most important roads of São Paulo, being inserted in the northeast corridor of the state, linking it to Minas Gerais. In a radius of 200 km around the city are some of the major cities in the interior of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, such as Araraquara, São Carlos, Bauru, Piracicaba, Campinas, São José do Rio Preto, Uberaba and Uberlândia, being facilitated by the availability of access roads. The following highways pass through the city:

Airport

Dr. Leite Lopes Airport offers support and infrastructure compatible with airports of major centers. It operates full-time, with more than 1.1 million passengers (2015).

Ribeirão Preto's Airport – Dr. Leite Lopes is administered by the São Paulo's Airway Department (DAESP). It is one of the main airports in São Paulo, offering support and infrastructure compatible with airports in major centers. It functions full-time and received, in 2011, more than 54,000 flights and nearly 1.1 million passengers, making it the 26th busiest airport in Brazil, with more movement than many Brazilian capitals.

With a runway measuring 2.100 x 45m, a passenger terminal with 3850 m2 and 840 car parking spaces, works for expansions are about to start (2018) amplifying the passengers terminal to 12,000m2.

Also operates charter flights and houses the headquarters of Passaredo (important regional airline), and a flying club.

Railroad

Currently the city's railway system is not functional. There are some projects underway to revitalize it.[14]

The first railway to arrive in Ribeirão Preto belonged to the Mogiana Company of Railroads, and the railway station was inaugurated on November 23, 1883. In 1970 it became part of the Railroad Paulista SA, and continued to operate until 1976 when the railroad tracks were transferred. On June 1, 1966 was inaugurated the new railway station, now owned by Centro- Atlantic (FCA), which received passengers until August 1997, when these trains were suppressed. In addition to these Ribeirão Preto has been served by two other railroads. The Dumont Railway, built by Mogiana, connecting the city to the farm Dumont, owned by Henrique Santos Dumont, at west of the city, and the train station Dumont, who belonged to the railroad, was inaugurated in 1890 and abandoned by the closure of the line in 1940, and demolished in March 1968. The Railroad São Paulo-Minas transported ore between Ribeirão Preto and Minas Gerais, with the station that was inaugurated on May 1, 1928 and operated until around 1970.